Page 47 of The Wolf's Bullied Mate
One evening later that week, Oliver rushed out of the house. He only told me that the alpha and Caden had summoned him to help out with some pack emergency.
I spent the evening listening to an audiobook, and knitting—or such were my plans, because around 7 pm, my phone rang. Expecting a call from Cherry, I took out the phonefrom my pocket with a smile. My expression dropped quickly when I saw the caller ID.
Mother.
I hesitated, but years of having to pick up the phone immediately whenever she called started to get the better of me. She would belittle me for being slow if I delayed longer than two rings.
Yet, Mother had no power over me here, right? She was in another pack entirely, two hours away by car. I wasn’t a member of Lone Bite anymore; I was a Moondust Hollow wolf. I was legally married to Oliver, which made my son and I members of the Norton family now. Both alphas had approved of me switching packs.
There was nothing Mother could do to hurt me anymore.
The thought was liberating.
With a smile, I declined the call.
My peace was short-lived, though, because she called me again a moment later. I declined again, but the phone rang again. Again and again. She was relentless.
I began to think that maybe something bad had happened. Maybe Dad was sick—or worse, had gotten injured in a skirmish with another pack. Considering how they had treated me, I shouldn’t care about their health or well-being, but I had been raised by them, and respect for my parents was ingrained in my bones. Guilt ate at me.
I finally answered her call.
“Why were you not picking up?!” Mother’s screeching voice greeted me through the phone.
I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. I had to get through this conversation. I just needed to find out whether or not anything terrible had happened to my parents, and once I had assurance that they were both in good health, I would hang up.
“You worthless daughter! How could you abandon us without a word,” Mother yelled at me.
I gritted my teeth. “You were informed by the alpha of my transfer to Moondust Hollow.”
“Yes, but you should have told us yourself. We would have stopped you then from doing something so foolish. I know nobody wants you in our pack, but resorting to an arranged marriage is still…” She continued ranting.
“My husband is the beta of Moondust Hollow,” I couldn’t stop gloating at Oliver’s status.
Mom fell silent for a moment.
“What did you do to get such a man to take interest in you?” She screeched again.
I didn’t know what to say.
“You’re pregnant again, aren’t you? You caught the man on a child. You couldn’t manage to pull off such a scheme with Jeffrey, but that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t try again,” she continued.
Why was I still listening to her abuse?
“What do you want, Mother?” I said in a cold tone.
“That’s no way to speak to your mother!”
“No, really, Mom, what’s going on that made you decide to call me three weeks after I’ve already moved out of the pack,” I said.
“I assumed you would have thought better of your actions and returned by now. Your father and I decided to give you time to realize your mistake and come crawling home, but enough is enough. When will you finally realize you have no place in Moondust Hollow and return?”
I sighed. “I won’t come back, Mother,” the words felt liberating.
“So you’re going to prevent us from seeing our grandson grow up?” She screeched again.
Anger rose in my heart. “You never cared about Ray when we lived with you, but you’re telling me you suddenly changed your mind now? It’s too late.”
The was shuffling on the line, as if someone had taken the phone away from Mother. Father’s voice came on soon after. “You must return to Lone Bite immediately,” his words were serious and cold.
